CPI(M) holds Mahadharna in Vijayawada

 

The Vijayawada city unit of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI(M) staged a ‘maha dharna’ (a massive sit-in protest) in front of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation office on Friday. The ‘maha dharna’ is being organised to register protest against ‘negligence’ of the city by the State Government.

The city unit of CPI(M) has demanded that the State government conduct elections to urban local bodies and put an end to special officers’ rule. 

Addressing a gathering, CPI(M) floor leader in the State Assembly Julakanti Ranga Reddy said the Congress government had neglected the local bodies, and was more interested in revenues than providing facilities to people. The government, which was eager to fill its coffers, levied tax even on garbage collection. The Congress promised to construct 28,000 houses in the city. It, however, miserably failed in identifying land. Governance deteriorated with frequent change in guard in the government.

MLAs and MP were least concerned about the grants and funds that were due to the VMC. They had not taken any steps in prevailing upon the government to release the dues under the JNNURM programme, he said. CPI(M) city secretary Ch. Babu Rao, secretariat members — Donepudi Kasinath, D. Vishnuvardhan, and U. V. Rama Raju came down heavily on the VMC for its miserable failure in completing the developmental works. They pointed out that roads were inundating with slightest rain. The corporation was dumping garbage in Vambay Colony, a residential area.

The CPI(M), as a prelude to maha dharna, organised padayatras in about 50 divisions in the city. The party also organised group meetings in every division to create awareness among the public. The CPI(M) received many petitions from the people on various problems faced by them. The petitions were submitted to the municipal commissioner at the dharna. The ‘shortsightedness’ of officials and ruling Congress party pushed the corporation into doldrums. The Congress leaders painted a rosy picture about the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme and city development. In reality, it became a curse to the city. Hardly 35 to 50 per cent works were completed though the programme came to an end, he said. 

(Courtesy : The Hindu)

Jaitapur Project Untenable

The National Committee in Solidarity with Jaitapur Struggle met in New Delhi on July 18, 2012. It has issued the following statement:

The Fukushima disaster has raised several fundamental issues in regard to the Jaitapur project. The location of six reactors in Jaitapur raises the risk of an accident substantially. Also, it is not clear how the issues of spent fuel storage are being addressed in Jaitapur considering the kind of risks that are now clear after Fukushima.  The Committee noted that there is not one plant of this design that has yet been commissioned in the world, with plants in  Okilkuoto and Flamanville running into serious problems, both in their construction and regulatory issues.

The reactors being purchased from Areva company in France are of untested technology and are exorbitantly expensive. So far the actual price and details of the agreement between Areva and the NPCIL have not been made public. The cost per unit of electricity of such a plant will be 3-4 times that of equivalent coal-fired plants.

The committee also noted that the that time bound conditions imposed on NPCIL in the Environmental Clearance granted to the project in November 2010 are already being flouted.

The meeting decided to address a letter to the Prime Minister immediately raising these concerns. The Committee will also write to the Minister of Environment and Forests about the non compliance with environmental clearance preconditions .

It has been decided that these issues will be jointly raised in Parliament by MPs belonging to different political parties. For this purpose the Committee will prepare a scientific, technical and economic backgrounder which will explain why the project is untenable and must be reviewed.

A national seminar on issues of safety, environmental safety and techno economic viability relating to the Jaitapur project will also be organised by the committee.

The meeting was attended by: Prakash Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist), A.B. Bardhan and D Raja, Communist Party of India, Ramvilas Paswan & Abdul Khaliq, Lok Janshakti Party, Dr. Venugopal Reddy, Telugu Desam Party, Danish Ali, Janata Dal (Secular), Vivek Monterio, Maharashtra, CITU, Prabir Purkayastha, Delhi Science Forum and others.

Massive Response in Court Arrest in West Bengal

Thousands of people participated in civil disobedience in West Bengal on 16th and 17th July against unprecedented price rise. On 16th , the programme was observed in districts, while Left Front observed it on 17th in Kolkata centrally. 

Left Front initiated a campaign against price rise and continuing attack on democracy from 4th of this month. Village and area level intensive campaign was organized.  Thereafter block and sub divisional level deputation and demonstration was done. The civil disobedience was on the peak of this campaign. The discontent among people against spiraling price rise was evident in truly mass participation in the programme. Huge rallies and public meetings preceded in Burdwan, Berhampore,  Balurghat, Chuchura, Siuri and other district headquarters on 16th. 

In Kolkata, Biman Basu, veteran leader of Forward Block Ashoke Ghosh , Manjukumar Majumdar of CPI, Khiti Goswami of RSP, Suryakanta Misra were among those courted arrest, followed by streams of Left Front activists from Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas. In the public meeting just before courting arrest Left leaders called for a wider movement. Biman Basu sharply criticized the inaction of the state government in controlling the price rise. Ashoke Ghosh said that the state was now heading for disaster which would be resisted through struggle.

Left Front has announced that there will be continuous movement against price rise. There will be Dharnas from 3oth July.  Throughout the month of August a massive campaign will be unleashed on the question of food security. Left peasants organizations have started a signature campaign on 14 point charter of demand which includes fair prices for farmers, reduction of prices of fertilizer and other agricultural inputs. 

 

Howrah





Hoogley



Bankura



Burdwan



Coochbihar



Maldah



Nadia



Murshidabad



Medinipur

On to Continuous Struggle : CPI (M), West Bengal State Committee

The West Bengal State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) had decided upon to push forward the protest movements in a regular manner with the burning issue of price rise and strengthen the call for protecting democratic immunity of the society along with the demands of the working people and common people’s day to day issues of livelihood.

The Left Front’s district wise protest movements of 16th July and the central movement of 17th July in Kolkata of Law violation were massive and successful in terms of aspiring popular confidence on propagating the movement with the issue of price rise and food security.

The Left Front would set forth for a month long campaign and protest demonstration posing the imperative agenda of food security throughout the whole month of August. It has been decided that the focus of the campaign would fall on the demand of introduction of universal mass distribution system discarding the rupture of APL-BPL, uniform rationing system to provide 35 kilograms of food grains at Rs. 2/Kg per month and control of hysterical price rise after paying the farmer the apt amount of his harvest. The Left Front would further demand to restructure the food security bill with the inclusion of the universal mass distribution system in it. Four leftist parties would set for a ‘Dharna’ in Delhi from 30th July to 3rd August by putting forward these issues.

Meanwhile mass signature campaign program of four leftist peasant organizations to protect the interests of the peasants of this state will continue till 30th August along with the demands of minimum profit sale of harvest, minimizing the prices of fertilizers, agricultural inputs and guarantee of minimum sustainable work and wage throughout the year for the agricultural workers. 

The CPI (M) West Bengal State Committee has given a call to make the Kolkata rally of 1st September on the anti-imperialism day, a massive and historic one. The party has asked all the leftist organizations to join this rally to strengthen the anti-imperialist stand. The party has further decided to continue to fight with the day to day issues of livelihood and recurring obstacles of a commoner’s life.